Blog | MasteringFood.com


	Member Login			Signup

welcome

start the 12-week program

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 09, 2007

Meditation for Weight Loss

Meditation is extremely helpful for Emotional Eaters because emotional eating is used as a way to dial down intense feelings. Meditation teaches you how to turn the volume down on uncomfortable feelings. Once you get good at it, you won't need food nearly as much.

Meditation can seem overwhelming to some people and very serious but it doesn't have to be.

If anxiety is what makes you overeat:
Try a simple form of meditation like yogic breathing, chanting, or simply following your breath.

If depression is what makes you overeat:
Try something joyful that incorporates movement like walking in nature, watching funny movies, or dancing.

If you're overwhelmed by too many thoughts and that makes you overeat:
Try a needle craft like knitting, journal writing, something that gets you into your body (sports, dance, tai chi, yoga)

If the lack of sex in your life makes you overeat:
Try something that provides euphoric escape like drumming, chanting, or dancing.

If boredom makes you overeat:
Try scrapbooking, collage, coloring in a coloring book (any of these can be done to music)

If anger makes you overeat:
Try deep-breathing or journaling.

If negative self-talk and self-doubts make you overeat:
Try a mantra practice with positive self-talk messages.

If you want anymore information on any of these types of meditation leave a comment here, google it , or start a thread on our message boards. Committing to a meditation practice will make a huge difference in your efforts to lose weight and live a more fulfilling life.

POSTED BY !MICHELLE! | 11:29:08 PM

Leave a Comment

Your Name:

Your Comment:

Comments

19 COMMENTS

Anonymous said...

Juda said...

I know that when food becomes an everyday part of my life rather than the first thing I think of or plan I'll be on the road to wellness. Not that the road I have already been on has been all bad. I know a lot about good nutrition and being mentally well balanced from having had compulsive overeating all my life. So it's not all bad. I know now that having a satisfying life includes having balanced relationships with friends and family, it also includes stuff that gives me emotional fulfillment like being with my dog and gardening and reading a good book it is also includes finding joy in the little things of the day AND sometimes that includes a damn fine meal. Food is not the enemy it is the life force we need to be friends with. Since de-emotionalising food I stopped having the massive binges I used to have. Next up is overeating. The list above includes what I call a lot of soul food and matched together with the real stuff at the right time and in the right quantities could make the difference. Thanks for the article and thank you to all the commentators. It all helps.

Marianne said...

My problem is that I have Fibromyalgia so if I eat any sugar I am in a lot of pain, so I have the pain and weight gain from eating sugar and the guilt from knowing better. Its insanity!

ina said...

Another thing i wanna say that it's gd to stop trying to be perfect in the sense to eliminate all "bad" or binge foods. But i don't mean accepting staying or becoming overweight. If you feel you get this feeling that makes you wanna eat but at the same time u know it's too much learn to not give in. When it's to hard it's probably gd to elliminate it for a while to train your willpower, but there's nothing wrong with eating most of the time what you like in smaller amounts, but better at times when you feel gd and yr not overfocused on the food. Listen to your feelings. Eat and cook with others! Do other things you love such as listening to music. Life is so much more and there are so many things that help you from stoping thinking about and doing what is not good for you. Start again. It's easy to make short comments. It's true that selfcontrol is important and needs to be learned, but it's more complex than that. And it's not what you should be telling people who are looking for help, want to chance and speak out about their problems. Otherwise they would not visit this website. There are much worse things to do.

ina said...

I think people who told you too often to grow up and left you alone at the same time are often a trigger for eating disorders. It is hard to be responsible if almost everyone behaves irresponsible against you and you can go nowhere with your anger, frustration, disappointment and needs. But there are also other people in this world and it's good to try to open oneself to the right people and try everyday to change your direction. Overeating is an addiction and makes you cold in the long run. Who really wants to be like the people who turned away without a real reason? A lot of people have been in that state and it's nothing to accept, because it has negative consequences. It's serious and first you should want to help yourself. And if notit's gd to do it anyway and see what happens.

janet said...

i disagree with Zso. it's NOT about "growing up". i'm like michelle where i cannot stop bingeing even though i read the book, tried the exercises, tried a lifestyle change. it didnt matter because i didnt have a good support system. a book, a new diet, exercising etc are no substitutes. i binge because my family and friends abandoned me and i'm at the point where i dont WANT people in my life. i automatically want food because it was the only thing that has always been there. thats what i dont know how to fix right now.

Zso said...

Ultimately it is taking responsibility i.e. growing up

michelle said...

i have read the book, i have started tai chi, i have practiced positive hought - but still i overeat! where to go now?

Angie said...

I fit into many of these categories. My biggest challenge is feeling comfortable in "self." I was abused as a child, and have adapted by ignoring myself and avoiding being centered and calm. I used to be very hyperactive. It was as if my feet weren't touching the ground. I was a workaholic and a people pleaser. After spending five years in therapy, I am feeling more like myself. However, I feel vulnerable and I find it difficult to be without my coping mechanisms. I shy away from meditation, being calm and just being present in my own body. Those things are very foreign to me. As a child, I coped by being hypervigilant and always ready for the next bad thing to happen. Letting go of all of that is hard. However, it is healthy and inspiring to read about meditation, as I hope to be able to do these things someday!

heidi said...

kelly please read the book shrink yourself! it has been so comforting to be informed on emotional eating. the first part of the book is so great because you learn all about our behavior, however the second part is very hard and alot of workyou have to stick to it -you deserve to live a great life but it gets down to the yuck in our life of why we do what we do.it is real important to do the work or we will never be free from the bondage of food.no matter what we look like it is important to know that God loves you immensley and wants you to be free from any bondage.

Edeh ujunwa said...

i nearly cryed when i noticed some weight gained after my child birth,but now iam no longer a binge eater as i am involved in the difference exercise.

Kelly said...

I was anorexic for two years and it destroyed the relationship I had with my mother. After those two years I somehow got lost in binge eating. Is this an abnormal reaction for an anorexic sufferer? I am no longer a binge eater as I am involved in the dance industry now and this suddenly brought back the old feelings which I realise now is where my eating disorder started...from when my dance teacher made nasty comments about my weight. I am now addicted to diet pills and laxatives. I have been on them for two years averaging 6 diet pills a day and up to 10 laxatives a day. They have ruined some of my friendships as I have the most awful mood swings. I have tried to come off the diet pills as I literally have pain in my heart however I get intense withdrawal symptoms. How can I lose my addiction?

Debra said...

It's truly not about categories, it's about a wholistic aproach to health. Combining several things for the mind body and soul as well as the spiritual. Meditation provides an avenue for to commune with your core, your greatness without mind body concerns. We oftentimes reach outside of ourselves for answers not realizing we are all unique. Meditation will allow our own answers to come forth in our quiet moments. Dialing down emotions, mental states, and automatic behavior involves not leaving yourself or projecting comfort giving qualities on food. Time to nurture yourself, see how you feel without any disturbance.

Sarah said...

I can't help but imagine myself crocheting while chanting on a forest walk or tai chi drum dancing, as I'm afflicted with more than one thing on the list.

Charlie said...

Donna, the restrictive eating isn't just about food, as I'm sure you know: it's about cripplingly low self-esteem, among other things. I'm not any kind of an expert but I have known people with eating disorders, and had a brush with them myself. I strongly suggest you try to find her professional help that focuses on building up her self-esteem, and doesn't simply threaten to stuff her with food, as that's usually massively counterproductive. I would also suggest you try somehow to keep her away from those sites, because the people running many of them have the best of intentions, but they can be triggering, reinforcing the self-hating/starving mindset. While the girls do give each other emotional support, reading the same experiences, and hearing that it's the majority way of living among these communities normalizes these abnormal behaviours. Good luck, and I hope you can find the help you need.

Janice Kozlowski said...

In the anxious, depressed or negative moment, something like meditation doesn't seem like it would work at all, but I know I am wrong. It is not a quick fix, but nothing that will truly be "life-changing" ever is. Although I do not belong to SY yet? it seems like it is not a quick fix, and will, therefore, create more positive, long-lasting change. Meditation is certainly part of that plan for creating positive change. Thanks!

Cheryl51 said...

I tried visualizing my day every morning when I woke-up. I saw myself moving through my choices, encountering stressors and visualized me peacefully engaging with them. Somehow I stopped so many distractions, but will begin again. I really like visualization. Seems to help.

Jean said...

Thanks, Michelle, for the suggestions.

Donna said...

How can I get help for my 21 year old daughter who starves herself for days and a time to loose weight. Then she eats, not too much, and says she hates herself. I know she's been on anorexic web sites and says terrible things.

The Shrink Yourself Blog
The Shrink Yourself Blog, hosted by Michelle Fiordaliso, clinical director of Shrink Yourself, gives you expert info on emotional eating.

Recent Posts
Overeaters: Alternatives to Using Food as a Reward
Your free emotional eating rescue kit
Food Addiction: 3 Ways it Digs in it's Claws
How do you get an eating disorder?
Weight Loss: 4 Ways We Sabotage Ourselves
Weight Loss: 3-Essential Questions to Ask Yourself Today
3 Holes We Try to Fill with Overeating
Managing Your Emotions to Avoid Overeating
3 Ways to Stop Overeating
6 Ways People Pleasers Can Stop Emotional Eating
Ten Healthy Eating Habits
5 Tips to Cope with Emotional Eating
Why the experimental new diet pill will not keep you slim.
How to Beat Your Valentine's Day Blues
5 Consequences of Emotional Eating
Why People Binge
The Secret Ingredient For Success
A_Surprise Tool to Stave Off Emotional Eating
5-Tips for Making Successful New Year's Resolutions
How to Lose Weight Without Dieting or New Year's Resolutions
How Catastrophic Thinking Can Keep You Fat
How Self-Criticism Keeps You Fat
The Number One Reason Diets Fail
How Living in the Past Keeps You Fat
The Link Between Past Child Abuse and Emotional Eating
The Key to Avoiding Overeating
A Simple Exercise to Avoid Emotional Eating
Why Running Away from Your Problems Keeps You Fat
Overeaters: How to Stop Feeling Deprived
How Family Sabotages Your Weight Loss
Overeaters: How Confronting Your Siblings Can Ease Food Cravings
All or None Thinking
TRUE WILL
Three Forms of Will Power
Fear, Hope and Growth
Afraid to Feel
Reinvent Yourself
Childhood Misunderstandings
"Clarity Of Mind"
ALMOST CURED
Origins of a Food Obsession
Overcoming Self Doubt Takes Practice
How Does Doubt Make YOU Eat?
What Makes YOU Eat Too Much?
Reprogramming Your Brain
Clearing Out the Closet in Your Mind
Married, Lonely and Hungry
Messages From Your Mind
Feeling Stuck and Hungry
From Out of Sight to Insight
An Insight A Day, Keeps the Pounds Away
Numbing the Mind with Food
Expand Your Mind, Shrink Your Tummy
Taste the Deeper Feeling of Powerlessness
3 Signs of Emotional Hunger
Emotional Eating: Blessing or Curse?
Eating to Maintain Happiness
The Endless Diet Cycle
Why Diets Fail: Emotional Hunger
Food Addiction & Food Obsession
Overeating: A Habit to be Broken
Emotional Hunger
Why People Binge
5 Consequences of Emotional Eating
Happy Valentines Day!
Take a Warm Bath
Putting Ambivalence to Rest
Is it Time to Re-Think Your Past?
Successful New Year's Resolutions
Another Year... Another Diet?
Important Insights for the Holidays
Quick Tips for a Happier Holiday
Holiday Health and Emotional Healing
Holiday Stuffing: More Family, More Feelings and More Food
You Are Not Alone
"Checking Out" in Advance
Riding 100 Miles Uphill
Why Most Diets Fail
When the Past is in Conflict with the Present
Emotional Hunger Points to the Past
The Thinking Person's Diet
Count to 10
Run, Run, Runaway
Fathers, Mothers, Sisters and Brothers
THE TALE OF TWO SISTERS
All or None Thinking
TRUE WILL
Three Forms of Will Power
Fear, Hope and Growth
Reinventing Yourself: Part 2
Reinvent Yourself
To Eat too much or To Be Free?
Reality is Your Friend
Using Food to Disappear
Blinded by the Obsession with Food
ALMOST CURED
Use your Mind, Cure your Food Obsession, Change your Life!
HEAD TRANSPLANT CURES WEIGHT PROBLEM
When you hurt too much, you eat too much.
Doubting Doubts can make you Thin!
It's doubt that makes you eat too much
EMOTIONAL EATING; SCIENCE AND MYSTERY
FULL FROM THE INSIDE
Stuck, Part Two, My Marriage Makes Me Eat
The Link Between Being Stuck and Losing Weight
How To Feed Insights To The Mind
FEED THE MIND INSIGHTS INSTEAD OF FOOD
FEEDING THE MIND: TEN INSIGHTS REQUIRED TO BREAK THE EMOTIONAL EATING HABIT
FEEDING FOOD TO THE MIND: STAGES ONE AND TWO
FEEDING THE MIND
Only Measure Meal by Meal
Self-Acceptance Starts Now!
If Food Isn't Love, What Is?
Codependence Contributes to Overeating
3 Ways to Trust Yourself Enough to Lose the Weight
How to Warm Up Without Food
People, People Who Need People
Are Your Resolutions Being Sabotaged?
New Year—New Approach
Same Same but Different
Sweeten Your Season Without Sugar
3 Ways to Try a New Approach This Holiday Season
Holiday Binge Eating
The 12 Types of Holiday Eating & Tips for Tackling Them
3 Ways to Alleviate Loneliness & The Hunger It Creates
Using a Plateau to Propel You Forward: What to Do When You Stop Losing Weight?
My Virtual Shrink: A New Program by Dr. Roger Gould
Be Proactive About Holiday Binging (Start Now)
4 Ways Fat Feels Safe
7 Things to Learn from Successful Calorie Cutters
H.A.L.T. Before Your Next Bite of Food
Do You Get Hungry After Dark? More Information for Night Eaters.
Are You A Procrastinator? A Parent? Try A New Approach
A Shrink Yourself Success Story
Exes and Overeating
This Labor Day: Don't Work!
10 Things You Must Know About Hypothyroidism
How Stress Gets You Into a Rut that Makes You Overeat
Food As a Form of Punishment
What Can a Year of Shrink Yourself Do For You?
Food is NOT a Reward!
Losing Weight Can Be as Simple as Breathing In
Understand Your Emotions Instead of Eating to Stuff Them Down
Learn from a Former Shrink Yourself Member's Success
The Missing Link to Getting Slim for Summer
4 Ways We Contribute to One Another's Unhealthy Relationships with Food
3 Reasons More and More People Are Addicted to Food
The Darker Side of Emotional Eating: Overcoming Bulimia & Other Eating Disorders
3 Steps to Build Your Own Emotional Eating Rescue Kit
If Not Overeating, Then What?
3 Essential Things to Remember If You’re Trying to Lose Weight
How Long Do I Have to Wait to See Change?
Overeating: How to Avoid Falling Off the Wagon
Food Addiction & 3 Ways to Recover Your Power
3 Ways to Cope with Job Insecurity (Or Any Other Kind of Insecurity)
3 Holes You Might Be Trying to Fill With Food
How the Recession Affects Overeating
To Lose Weight You Need a Team: Who's on Yours?
Become the Master of Your Emotions in Three Easy Steps
Never Diet Again
The Pause Before the Purchase
New Study Says "Weight Loss Boils Down to Calories" (Don't Be So Sure That's All You Need)
Come Clean From Sugar Addiction
Overcoming Emotional Eating: A Success Story
Be the Master of Your Emotions & Eat Less
Human Relationships Make Us Eat (But They Don't Have To)
Why Confusion Makes You Eat More Than Many Other Emotions
Caretaking and Overeating
3 Steps to Certain Weight Loss
How to Finally Lose Weight in the New Year
Does TV Make You Overeat?
Don't Fall Into Old Familiar Patterns During the Holiday Season
Oprah's Struggle with Overeating: What Does that Mean for You?
Overspending & Overeating: What's the Connection?
Gratitude
Men are Emotional Eaters Too
3 Ways to Enjoy the Time Until You Lose the Weight
Is Food Your Substitute for Love?
3 Ways to Combat Perfectionism
Is Food Really Your Friend?
3 Ways to Avoid Weight Gain This Halloween
I'm Doing Everything Right: Why Is the Scale Stuck on the Same Number?
Never Binge Again
Do You Need to Diet to Lose Weight?
The Education You Never Got in School
Back to School
PMS and Emotional Eating
Exercise: A Way to Finally Stick With It
Food Pushers Everywhere You Go
Shrink Your Waist, Expand Your Brain
Don't Speak - Don't Eat
Carol Solomon
Sex and the City
Kung Fu Panda: An Emotional Eater
Overeating Keeps You on the Sidelines of Life
Would You Give a Crying Child a Donut and Send Them Away?
Put It on Paper
Response to No More Cravings from Dr. Gould
Pause and Taste the Feeling, The Feeling That Makes You Eat Too Much
Michelle on Hot Mom's Club Site
3 Reasons You Won't Lose Weight
No More Cravings: Simple Secret Revealed
The Pain-Body and The Feeling Phobia (A Series on The New Earth by Eckart Tolle)
The Moral of the Story is Care
Being an Adult is the Best Kept Secret
Oscar Snacks
The Devil You Know
Prepare for Valentine's Day
How To Look Good Naked
Happy New Year!
Chair Yoga: Soothe Yourself Right in Your Seat
It's Not Just What You Eat That Makes You Fat: It's What You Drink
Meditation for Weight Loss
How Stress Makes You Flabby
5 Reasons Your Partner Makes You Fat
Sugar, More Addictive Than Cocaine.
Lessons Learned on Halloween (for Next Year)
Diet and Cancer Report
Nighttime Eating
Women: Don't Keep Your Feelings Bottled Up
Quinoa (A Great Grain for Losing Weight)
Oprah Interview
Fat: A Protective Coating
Leslie Sansone - If You Live In A Dangerous Place - Walk in the Safety of Your Home
A National Plan That Misses The Point
What Will I Think About If I'm Not Obsessed with Food?
Shrink Yourself in Psychology Today (August Issue)
The Sum of What Our Program Does
Losing Weight Karate Kid Style
By 2015 75% of Americans will be Overweight
Resistance to the Idea of Emotional Eating
Fat: A Perfect Hiding Place
Stress + Junk Food = Obesity ** Break The Toxic Equation
Look Out For Articles By Dr. Gould
Is It Too Late to Lose the Weight?
Depression & Anxiety Affect The Outcome of Obesity Surgeries
Are You An Emotional Eater? (An Excerpt from Shrink Yourself)
Dr. Gould on the Huffington Post
Five Tips to End Emotional Eating
Top 5 Things That Make You Fat - True or False
Weekends Can Be Rough for Emotional Eaters
What Excuses Do You Make?
The Ten Habits of Every Successful Dieter
The Eight Signs of Emotional Eating
Loneliness and Overeating
The Deep Roots of Emotional Eating
Best Comment of the Week
April is Emotional Overeating Awareness Month
Good Housekeeping Article Recognizes Emotional Eating
You're Not Alone in Your Efforts to Lose Weight

Archives
None.